The Witness - Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (top 5 books to read txt) 📗
- Author: Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
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Big Impression On Us All. And When Court Began To Change, Came Out
Straight And Said He Believed In Christ, And All That, It Knocked The
Tar Out Of Us All. Stephen Hasn't Got Done Preaching Yet. You Ought To
Hear Court Tell The Story Of His Death. It Bowled Me Over When I Heard
It, And Everywhere He Tells It Men Believe! Wherever Paul Courtland
Tells That Story Stephen Marshall Will Be Preaching."
Chapter 31 Pg 183
Mother Marshall Stooped Over And Kissed Pat's Astonished Forehead. "You
Have Made Me A Proud And Happy Mother To-Day, Laddie! I'm Glad You
Came."
Pat, Suddenly Conscious Of Himself, Stumbled, Blushing, To His Feet.
"Thanks, Mother! It's Been Great! Believe Me, I Sha'n't Ever Forget It.
It's Been Like Looking Into Heaven For This Poor Bum. If I'd Had A Home
Like This I Might Have Stood Some Chance Of Being Like Your Steve,
Instead Of Just A Roughneck Athlete."
"Yes, I Know," Smiled Mother Marshall. "A Dear, Splendid Roughneck,
Doing A Big Work With The Boys! Paul Has Told Me All About It. You're
Preaching A Lot Of Sermons Yourself, You Know, And Going To Preach Some
More. Now Shall We Go Down? It's Time For Evening Prayers."
So Pat Put His Strong Arm Around Mother Marshall's Plump Waist, Drew One
Of Her Hands In His, And Together They Walked Down To The Parlor, Where
Bonnie Was Already Playing "Rock Of Ages." It Seemed To Pat The Kingdom
Of Heaven Could Be No Sweeter, For This Was The Kingdom Come On Earth.
When He And Courtland Were Up-Stairs In Their Room, And All The House
Quiet For The Night, Pat Spoke:
"I've Sized It Up This Way, Court. There Ain't Any Dying! That's Only An
Imaginary Line Like The Equator On The Map. It's Heaven Or Hell, Both
Now And Hereafter! We Can Begin Heaven Right Now If We Want To, And Live
It On Through; And That's What These Folks Have Done. You Don't Hear
Them Sitting Here Fighting Like The Professors Used To Do, About Whether
There's A Heaven Or A Hell! They Know There's Both. They're Living In
One And Pulling Folks Out Of The Other, Hard As They Can; And They're
Too Blamed Busy, Following Out The Bible And Seeing It Prove Itself, To
Listen To All The Twaddle To Prove That It Ain't So! I Sure Am Darned
Glad You Gave Me The Tip And I Got A Chance To Get In On This Little Old
Game, For It's The Best Game I Know, And The Best Part About It Is It
Lasts Forever!"
Tennelly Was Away All That Summer, Doing The Fashionable Summer Resorts
And Taking A California Trip. The Next Winter He Spent In Washington.
Uncle Ramsey Had Him At Work, And Courtland Ran On Him In His Office
Once, When He Took A Hurried Trip Down To See What He Could Do For The
Eight-Hour Bill. Tennelly Looked Grave And Sad. He Was Touchingly Glad
To See Courtland. They Did Not Speak Of Gila Once, But When Courtland
Lay In His Sleepless Sleeper On The Return Trip That Night Tennelly's
Face Haunted Him, The Wistfulness In It.
A Few Months Later Tennelly Wrote A Brief Note Announcing The Birth Of A
Daughter, Named Doris Ramsey After His Grandmother. The Tone Of His
Letter Seemed More Cheerful.
E Of The
Peasants In The Constituent Assembly, And In The Revolutionary Socialist
Party, Whose Program They Had Long Since Adopted, And Whose Leaders And
Ways Of Acting They Knew, The Inhabitants Of The Country Proved Themselves
In All That Concerned The Elections Wide Awake To The Highest Degree. There
Were Hardly Any Abstentions, _90 Per Cent. Of The Population Took Part In
The Voting_. The Day Of The Voting Was Kept As A Solemn Feast; The Priest
Said Mass; The Peasants Dressed In Their Sunday Clothes; They Believed That
The Constituent Assembly Would Give Them Order, Laws, The Land. In The
Government Of Saratov, Out Of Fourteen Deputies Elected, There Were Twelve
Socialist-Revolutionists; There Were Others (Such As The Government Of
Pensa, For Example) That Elected _Only_ Socialist-Revolutionists. The
Bolsheviki Had The Majority Only In Petrograd And Moscow And In Certain
Units Of The Army. The Elections To The Constituent Assembly Were A
Decisive Victory For The Revolutionary Socialist Party.
Such Was The Response Of Russia To The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_. To Violence
And Conquest Of Power By Force Of Arms, The Population Answered By The
Elections To The Constituent Assembly; The People Sent To This
Assembly, Not The Bolsheviki, But, By An Overwhelming Majority,
Socialist-Revolutionists.
Vii
_The Fight Against The Bolsheviki_
But The Final Result Of The Elections Was Not Established Forthwith. In
Many Places The Elections Had To Be Postponed. The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_
Had Disorganized Life, Had Upset Postal And Telegraphic Communications, And
Had Even Destroyed, In Certain Localities, The Electoral Mechanism Itself
By The Arrest Of The Active Workers. The Elections Which Began In The
Middle Of November Were Not Concluded Till Toward The Month Of January.
In The Mean Time, In The Country A Fierce Battle Was Raging Against The
Bolsheviki. It Was Not, On The Part Of Their Adversaries, A Fight For
Power. If The Socialist-Revolutionists Had Wished They Could Have Seized
The Power; To Do That They Had Only To Follow The Example Of Those Who Were
Called "The Revolutionary Socialists Of The Left." Not Only Did They Not
Follow Their Example, But They Also Excluded Them From Their Midst. A Short
Time After The Bolshevik Insurrection, When The Part Taken In This
Insurrection By Certain Revolutionary Socialists Of The Left Was Found Out,
The Central Committee Of The Revolutionary Socialist Party Voted To Exclude
Chapter 31 Pg 184Adopted Tactics Contrary To Its Principles. This Exclusion Was Confirmed
Afterward By The Fourth Congress Of The Party, Which Took Place In
December, 1917.
Soon After The _Coup D'état_ Of October The Question Was Among All Parties
And All Organizations: "What Is To Be Done? How Will The Situation Be
Remedied?" The Remedy Included Three Points. First, Creation Of A Power
Composed Of The Representatives Of All Socialist Organizations, With The
"Populist-Socialists" On The Extreme Right, And With The Express Condition
That The Principal Actors In The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_ Would Not Have
Part In The Ministry. Second, Immediate Establishment Of The Democratic
Liberties, Which Were Trampled Under Foot By The Bolsheviki, Without Which
Any Form Of Socialism Is Inconceivable. Third, Convocation Without Delay Of
The Constituent Assembly.
Such Were The Conditions Proposed To The Bolsheviki In The Name Of Several
Socialist Parties (The Revolutionary Socialist Party, The Mensheviki, The
Populist-Socialists, Etc.), And Of Several Democratic Organizations
(Railroad Workers' Union, Postal And Telegraphic Employees' Union, Etc.).
The Bolsheviki, At This Time, Were Not Sure Of Being Able To Hold Their
Position; Certain Commissaries Of The People, Soon After They Were
Installed In Power, Handed In Their Resignation, Being Terrified By The
Torrents Of Blood That Were Shed At Moscow And By The Cruelties Which
Accompanied The _Coup D'état_. The Bolsheviki Pretended To Accepte,
Pat, You And I? Let's Cut That Sign Down First, And Then, Pat, I'm Going
To Hunt Up A Stone-Cutter. This Church Has Got To Have A New Name.
'Church Of God For Sale' Has Killed This One! A Church That Used To
Belong To God And Doesn't Any More Is What That Means. They Have Sold
The Church Of God, But His Presence Is Still Here!"
A Few Weeks Later, When The Two Came Down To Look Things Over, The
Granite Arch Over The Old Front Doors Bore The Inscription In Letters Of
Stone:
Church Of The Presence Of God
Courtland Stood Looking For A Moment, And Then He Turned To Pat Eagerly.
"I'm Going To Get Possession Of The Whole Block If I Can; Maybe The
Opposite One, Too, For A Park, And You've Got To Be Physical Director!
I'll Turn The Kids And The Older Boys Over To You, Old Man!"
Pat's Eyes Were Full Of Tears. He Had To Turn Away To Hide Them. "You're
A Darned Old Dreamer!" He Said, In A Choking Voice.
So The Rejuvenation Of The Old Church Went On From Week To Week. The Men
At The Seminary Grew Curious As To What Took Pat And Courtland To The
City So Much. Was It A Girl? It Finally Got Around That Courtland Had A
Rich And Aristocratic Church In View, And Was Soon To Be Married To The
Daughter Of One Of Its Prominent Members. But When They Began To
Congratulate Him, Courtland Grinned.
"When I Preach My First Sermon You May All Come Down And See," He
Replied, And That Was All They Could Get Out Of Him.
Courtland Found That A Lot Had To Be Done To That Church. Plaster Was
Falling Off In Places, The Pews Were Getting Rickety. The Pulpit Needed
Doing Over, And The Floor Had To Be Recarpeted. But It Was Wonderful
What A Difference It All Made When It Was Done. Soft Greens And Browns
Replaced The Faded Red. The Carpet Was Thick And Soft, The Cushions
Matched. Bonnie Had Given Careful Suggestions About It All.
"You Could Have Got Along Without Cushions, You Know," Said Pat,
Frugally, As He Seated Himself In Appreciative Comfort.
"I Know," Said Courtland, "But I Want This To Look Like A _Church_! Some
Day When We Get The Rest Of The Block And Can Tear Down The Buildings
And Have A Little Sunlight And Air, We'll Have Some _Real Windows_ With
Wonderful Gospel Stories On Them, But These Will Do For Now. There's Got
To Be A Pipe-Organ Some Day, And Bonnie Will Play It!"
Pat Always Glowed When Courtland Spoke Of Bonnie. He Never Had Ceased To
Be Thankful That Courtland Escaped From Gila's Machinations. But That
Very Afternoon, As Courtland Was Preparing To Hurry To The Train, There
Came A Note From Pat, Who Had Gone Ahead, On An Errand:
Dear Court,--Tennelly's In Trouble. He's Up At His
Old Rooms. He Wants You. I'll Wait For You Down In The
Office.
Pat.
Chapter 32 Pg 185
Tennelly Was Pacing Up And Down The Room. His Face Was White, His Eyes
Were Wild. He Had The Haggard Look Of One Who Has Come Through A Long
Series Of Harrowing Experiences Up To The Supreme Torture Where There Is
Nothing Worse That Can Happen.
Courtland's Knock Brought Him At Once To The Door. With Both Hands They
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